Customer Service is People Helping People

It is a crowded evening, during rush hour foot traffic on the New York City subway. We have just approached my stop. A herd of people, fresh off of work, push out of the train doors. They rush through the station and down the stairs. When finally out of the station, I notice, just about 12 feet head of me, an older woman’s leg gives out and she falls down sideways onto the sidewalk. There were probably 100+ people walking on this sidewalk out of the station and no one stopped. I stand there, the scene suddenly in playing out in slow motion, and watch as many people passed her by, with their headphones on playing music, reading on their Kindles or texting on their cell. I run over to her. She had dropped her purse when falling and the contents spilled out, so I first help her up and lead her over to a parking meter to lean on. I then went back to pick up her purse. She stood there smiling at me. I ask her if she was OK and she said she will be alright and thanks me for the help. She said she’ll get a taxi from this point, which she hails and goes on her way.

Earlier today, in need of some motivation, I stumble across the video titled Life Vest Inside “Kindness Boomerang” One Day by Apptentive (@apptentive).

You can click the link above or watch it here:

In the article Create Customer Happiness with a Simple Act of Kindness, they discuss how a great customer experience isn’t just about the product.

Build your business with customer happiness in the forefront of your mind. Be as real with them as you want them to be with you and you won’t be disappointed.

Then, I dug around and found some examples of companies already doing this:

Spilled Ice Cream And Six Flags: A Great Customer Service Adventure by Micah Solomon (@micahsolomon)

An ice cream cone lost to gravity didn’t ruin the day at Six Flags! It’s really all about the little, sweet things in life.

Southwest Customer Service Dedication Makes an Awesome Customer Experience by Flavio Martins (@flavmartins)

Even when it’s out of the company’s control, what they CAN do can make a big difference.

Smile + Personalization = Customer Service Success by Teresa Allen (@teresaallen)

Genuine smiles are free and they can shift someone’s day more than you ever know.

Back in November, I wrote Just Be Kind…in Customer Service and Beyond about another NYC subway experience (this one being much more positive) about how important it is to show kindness. And, nothing says kindness more than acts of service to help others.

After all, what Jeremy always says:

“In customer service when you strip everything away, what’s left should be people helping people…period.”

So, I’ll end this post on this note:

1. Be kind to others.
2. Be kind to yourself.

It won’t solve all the problems in the world but it may make our time here a little better.

Maybe I’ll kick off a Communicate Better Blog Act of Kindness a Day challenge–who would be in for that?

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